The winner of the face-to-face ace match is Yang Hyeon-jong. The KIA Tigers have won two consecutive victories.
KIA won 3-0 in the third game of the season against SSG Landers in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 9th. They captured the leading SSG, who was on a 5-game winning streak.
Hyeon-jong Yang, who started the mound, took the second win (undefeated) of the season by fighting against 6 hits, 10 strikeouts, and 1 walk in 8 innings.
On this day, two left-handers Yang Hyeon-jong and Kim Gwang-hyun, who represent Korean baseball, faced each other for the first time in eight years, drawing much attention. Their starting matchup was exactly 2782 days after September 26, 2015.
Until 8 years ago, Kim Gwang-hyun and Yang Hyeon-jong met a total of 6 times. Eight years ago in Gwangju, Hyeonjong Yang laughed. Hyeonjong Yang laughed again this time.
In the first inning, Yang Hyeon-jong caught the lead batter Choo Shin-soo with a fly ball to right field and Choi Joo-hwan with a ground ball in front of the pitcher. He gave Kim Kang-min a left-handed hit, but got off to a good start by catching Choi Jeong as a floating ball in center field. The SSG hitters were pinned down.
Up to the 6th inning, he struck out 9 strikeouts and played a reversal. In the 7th inning, Yang Hyeon-jong treated the first batter, Han Yu-seom, with a fly ball to the right fielder, and Park Seong-han with a ground ball in front of the shortstop, and then Kim Seong-hyun with a catcher strike knockout.
On September 4, 2020, Yang Hyeon-jong recorded a double-digit strikeout in 977 days after recording 6 innings and 10 strikeouts in the first game of the double header against Sajik Lotte. He has the most strikeouts in a single game with 12, and he set a record by pitching 7 innings against Hanwha in Gwangju on July 3, 2018.
On the other line, Yang Hyeon-jong’s good pitching was rewarded by Byeon Woo-hyuk and Ryu Ji-hyuk with scoring support. Byun Woo-hyuk hit a two-run home run against Kim Gwang-hyun in the 4th inning, and Ryu Ji-hyuk hit a timely hit in the 5th inning to make Yang Hyeon-jong’s shoulders lighter.
Yang Hyeon-jong, who threw a total of 90 balls up to the 7th inning, climbed the mound in the 8th inning as well, caught Kim Min-shik with a ground ball to the second baseman and dedicated a hit to the right fielder to Shin-soo Choo, but handled Choi Joo-hwan as a ground ball in front of the shortstop and Kim Kang-min as a floating ball to the center fielder. After battling a scoreless run, he left it to Jung Hae-young in the ninth inning. 메이저놀이터
Jeong Hae-young, the first batter, handled Choi Jung as a right fielder, Choi Hang as a left fielder as a fly ball, and Hanyu Island as a third baseman as a straight hit to secure the victory.
SSG ace Kim Gwang-hyun suffered the loss with 6 hits (1 home run), 6 strikeouts, 2 walks and 3 runs in 6 innings. Kim Gwang-hyun suffered his first loss (2 wins) of the season.